Trouser hangers



March 1959 H. o. RENNER 2,879, 3

TROUSER HANGERS Filed Aug. 28, 1956 IN V EN TOR.

United States PatentO TROUSER HANGERS Herbert 0. Renner, Des Plaiues, Ill. Application August 28, 1956, Serial No. 606,635

Claims. (Cl. 223-95) This invention relates to improvements in trouser hangers, and in particular to expansible hangers for trousers with culfed legs.

An object of the invention is to provide" an improved trouser hanger the expanding and-stretching means of which, without any of the mechanical or. resilient means of the prior art, such as compression springs, spring wires, levers, rotating pivot pins and the like, are automatically actuated by means transferring the constant gravitational force created by the weight of the trousers plus any pocket contents into constant, cuff-stretching forces exerting themselves horizontally in opposite directions.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved trouser hanger adapted to exert a constant, uniform, steady cuff-stretching force independent of the width of the trousers cufifs so that for example the cuffs of childrens trousers are stretched and kept stretched by the same uniform force, varying individually only with the weight applied, as those of mens trousers of exceptional widths. I

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved trouser hanger which is adaptable equally well to all widths of trouser cuffs, including the customary minimum widths of boys trousers and the maximum widths of mens trousers, without the stretching efiiciency of the trouser hanger being influenced by the mechanical characteristics and limitations of springs and other resilient means used in the prior art.

According to mens fashion standards, the ideal or most desirable contours of the trousers cuffs are characterized :by the vertical creases of the cuffs running not only vertically to the horizontal edges of the cuffs but also in exact allignment with the creases of the trouser legs and, parallel to each other. As rainand damp weather tend to spoil the said ideal" shape, another object of the invention is to provide an improved trouser hanger.

which is not only adapted to maintain but also to re-create said ideal contours by positively supporting at all times the major portion of the trouser cuffs horizontal edges as :well as the total lengths of the cuffs vertical creases.

Actuating mechanisms of metal, such as springs and resilient wire, or sheet metal and sharp-edged metal parts such as screws, nuts, rivets, pivot pins, levers, such as used in the prior arteasily cause mechanical damage to the fabric of trousers and tend to produce discolored spots in contact with light-colored fabrics due to chemical action between metal and moisture, particularly of moisture originating in sea water, perspiration and the like. Accordingly, another object of the invention'is an improved trouser hanger adapted to be exclusively manu-- factured from chemically inert plastics which cannot damage fabrics mechanically or discolor them chemically.

vAnother object of the invention is to provide an im proved trouser'hanger of the character described which. is adapted to be easily and speedily assembled from a few simple parts and thus manufactured economically.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the obiectsyand advantages thereoflreference is had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel fea tures of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a preferred embodiment of the improved trouser hanger in its minimum state of expansion, illustrating in dotted lines the manner in which a pair of trousers may be mounted thereon and suspended therefrom;

,Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the trouser hanger illustrated by Fig. l but in its maximum state of expansion. v

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken substantially upon the line III-III upon Fig. 1 in the direction indicated; I

'-Fig.-4 is a view in side elevation to a modification of the actuating member 7 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of another modification of the actuating member 7 of Fig. 1;

Fig.6 is a view in side elevation of still another modification of the actuating member 7 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, the improved trouser hanger essentially consists of two pairs of stretching blades 1 and 2, Fig. 1, and 3 and 4 of Fig. 3, respectively; two guiding pins 5 and 6 which not only keep the said two pairs of stretching blades in plane-parallel alignment with each other with the aid of slots 8, 9, 10 and 11 provided in the respective stretching blades 1, 2, 3 and 4, but also control the sliding of the two individual stretching blades ofeach pair along each other in opposite directions; and actuating means 7, positively engaging the said guiding pins and tending to move them in opposite directions outwardly under the influence of the combined weight of the trousers 12, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the two' pairs of stretching blades 1, 2, and 3, 4. The four stretching blades are shaped and paired, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so as to permit their cuff-engaging upper portions to be slipped under the trouser cuffs without interference by the customary tacking stitches which hold the cuffs to the trouser legs midway on each side.

Describing the novel structural and operational fea tures of the invention in more detail, the four individual stretching blades 1, 2, 3 and 4, preferably of sheet plastic, are identical in size, shape and structural detail, each of them being characterized by the provision of both, a slot the practically frictionless sliding of the said pins within said slots is assured. Thus, if two individual, paired stretching blades, such as 1 and 2, or 3 and 4, are, by means of said guiding pins 5 and 6, superimposed as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, any movement of said pins in opposite directions, i.e. away from each other if the stretching blades are in the position of minimum expansion as illustrated in Fig. 1, or towards each other if the stretching blades are in the position of maximum expansionas illustrated in Fig. 2, will result in similar movements of the individual stretching blades of each pair. As the two guiding pins actuate both pairs of stretching blades in exactly the same manner, the following operational details refer, in the interest of a clearer understanding, only to one pair. of stretching-blades, 1 and 2, and onetrouser .le g, 12, depicted .in Fig. 1. It is understood that gverye 3 thing stated with regard to the latter applies in all details also to the second pair of stretching blades, 3 and 4, of Fig. 3, and the second trouser leg, not shown in Fig. 1. The slots of the stretching blades are positioned so as' to be not only in perfect linear alignment with the holes receiving the guiding pins but also parallel to the longitudinal edges 15 and 16, and vertical to edges 17 and 18 of stretching blades 1 and 2, respectively. Consequently, as long as the maximal width of expansion of the trouser hanger is larger than the width of the trouser cuffs, movement of the guiding pins 5 and 6 away from each other results in the expansion and stretching of the trouser cuff the inner horizontal edge of which, such as 23 in Fig. 1, is positively supported over most of its length by the longitudinal edges 15 and 16 of stretching blades 1 and 2, while the two vertical cuff creases, 19 and 20 of Fig. l, of one trouser leg are fully engaged by the vertical edges 17 and 18, respectively, of the stretching blades 1 and 2. The edges 17, 15, 16 and 18, in the alignment shown in Fig. 1 or 2 circumscribe what I like to refer to as the ideal contours of trouser cuffs insisted upon by the welldressed and by fashion-standards, and characterized by edges 17 and 18 forming right angles with longitudinal edges 15 and 16, respectively, while the latter fall in coaxial alignment with each other independent of the degree to which the stretching blades are expanded h'orizontally. Thus, the use of the trouser hanger of this invention assures not only the maintenance of the said ideal contours but also their rec eation in case they are ruined by water, damp storage and the like, by continuous positive support of the trouser cuffs during drying on the trouser hanger under the influence of a constant moderate stretching force solely created and maintained by gravity.

The further requirement that the distances S2 and S1, Fig. 1, between the holes of the individual stretching blades, such as hole 13 of stretching blade 1 and hole 14 of respective stretching blade 2, and the centerline CL of the trouser hanger are equal assures at all time the perfect vertical suspension of the trousers independent of variations in the widths of cuffs and con"equently a perfect vertical coaxial alignment of edges 17 and 18 of the respective stretching blades 1 and 2 both, with the respective creases, 19 and 20 of Fig. l, of the trouser cuffs and the respective vertical creases, 21 and 22, of the trouser leg, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The length e of the slots in the stretching blades 1 to 4 determines the maximal expansion of the latter. On the other hand, under the condition that the distance between the two guiding pins equals the sum (SM-S2), the distance between vertical edges 17 of stretching blade 1 and 18 of stretching blade 2 represents the minimum width of trouser cuffs the trouser hanger can take care of. As for example in practice the end width of childrens trousers may be only 7 /2 inches and that of very wide mens trousers /2 inches, i.e. equivalent to 140 percent of the width of childrens trousers, it is expressly understood that all references to variations in the widths of trouser culfs in the foregoing and following description refer to variations of the above magnitude and not to the negligeable variations which are found in the customary Widths of mens trouser cuffs and which rarely exceed small fractions of one inch.

The actuating member 7 either forms part of the hook, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or is pivotally suspended from the latter. The function of the actuating member 7, positively engaging the said guiding pins 5 and 6 so as to assure their proper funct'oning as described in the foregoing, for the purpose specified, is based upon the principle 01" the wedge: the two inclined planes of a wedge, used to transfer the vertical gravit tional force exerted by the weight of the trousers plus the weight of the hanger, into horizontally acting calf-stretching pressure exertedin opposite directions againstgu'iding pins 5 and 6, are formed bythe longitudinal inner edges of the two wedg'e sicts 24 and 25 provided in rigid -sheet material and functionally shaped as shown by Way of example in Figs. 1 and 2 to serve as hook for the trouser hanger. The two slots 24 and are preferably spaced symmetrically from the centerline CL of the trouser hanger Which is identical with the centerline of the actuating member 7. With guiding pins 5 and 6 passing through and slidably engaging the longitudinal edges of, wedgeslots 24 and 25, respectively, the horizontal cuff-stretching force applied in opposite directions remains always a. constant, independent of whether the pairs of stretching blades 1, 2 and 3, 4 are in the position of minimal or maximal expansion, illustrated by Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, respectively. This fact is explained by means of the wedgeequation wherein Q indicates the pressure exerted in each direction, opposite to each other, vertical to the direction of gravitational force P applied along the centerline CL of the wedge, 2X0 represents the angle formed by wedgeslots 24 and 25, and a the angle formed by each individual wedge-slot with centerline CL of the actuating member 7. As P and angle 2 X6! remain constants, Q also remains a constant under all conditicns.

To maintain under all conditions said constant cuffstretching force, the smallest distance be.ween the upper ends of said wedge-slots is kept smaller than the distance (SH-S2) while the greatest distance m between the lower ends of said wedge-slots is kept larger than the distance e-]-(S1+S2), as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

That the above application of the wedge principle, for the purpose specified, is not limited to the preferred form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is illustrated by modifications of actuating member 7, such as depicted in Figs. 4 to 6.

Fig. 4 illustrates an actuating member 26 adapted to replace actuating member 7 of Figs. 1 and 2 and characterized by a pivotal engagement of hole 27 with guiding pin 6 while the other guiding pin 5 is positively slidably engaged by a properly curved slot 36. This modification requires a properly shaped hooked part so that the center of gravity of the trouser hanger falls at all time upon its centerline CL, a prerequisite for free vertical suspension of the trousers from the hanger. Thus, when the cuffs of a pair of pants are positioned on the blades 1 and 2 shown in Figure 2, and the hook portion of the actuating member 26 is placed over a support, the member 26 will rotate about the guiding pin 6 causing the other guiding pin 5 to be laterally extended by the motion of the curved slot 36. This will laterally extend the blades into contact with the pants cufis.

Two other modifications of the actuating member 7, illustrated by Figs. 5 and 6 are characterized by the absence of wedge-slots, the wedge being represented by respective edges 28 and 29, Fig. 5, and edges 30 and 31, Fig. 6. In both cases, the guiding pins would be only actuated so as to move away from each other under the influence of the trousers weight, while no reverse movement of said guiding pins towards each other could be effected. Such reverse movement, of importance for the quick release of the trouser cuffs from the hanger, can be accomplished only by the positive engagement of both guiding pins with wedge-slots such as 24 and 25 of Figs. 1 and 2, or slot 36 of Fig. 4.

The upper end of the actuating member 7 is, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, preferably shaped to form a hook adapted to engage any size clothes rod of clothes closets and to freely suspend the trouser hanger in vertical position. Spacing washers 36 and 37 carried by guiding pins 6 and 5, respectively, and inserted between actuating member 7 and stretching blades 1 and 2, respectively, and similarly spacing washers 38 and 39, carried by the same guiding pins and inserted between actuating them her 7 andstretching blades 3 and 4, respectively, assure suflicient clearance between member 7 and the two pairs of stretching blades to permit the insertion of the inside cuffs of the trouser legs.

The ends of guiding pins 5 and 6 are provided with flat heads 33 and 35, and 32 and 34, respectively, to secure all parts of the trouser hanger in their proper positions and permit practically frictionless respective move ments as specified.

While this and other features have been more or less specifically described and illustrated, I wish it to be understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims, and similarly that the ma terials of the several parts employed may be such as the manufacturer may decide or varying conditions demand.

What I claim is:

l. A hanger for cuffed trousers and the like, comprising: two pairs of cuff-stretching blades with each blade of each pair having a side edge adapted to be located against the inner surface of a cuff at the normally pressed side edge thereof and an end edge adapted to be located against a major portion of the inner surface of the cuff against the normally pressed bottom edge thereof, said end edges of each pair being substantially coplanar; guide means-operatively engaging the blades of each pair permitting linear movement of each pair of blades laterally with respect to each other while substantially maintaining said coplanar arrangement; actuating means operatively engaging said guide means to cause outward movement of the blades of each pair under the influence of gravity on said hanger and the trousers suspended thereon to continuously press said side edges of the blades against the side edges of the cuffs; and means operatively attached to said actuating means for suspending said hanger and trousers from a support.

2. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said guide means includes pins movably positioned in each pair of blades with each pin engaging slots in the blades of the other pan.

3. The hanger of claim 1 wherein said actuating means includes a member having two oppositely inclined cam surfaces thereon, said cam surfaces operatively engaging said guide means for movement thereof.

4. A hanger for cuifed trousers and the like, comprising: two pairs of cuff-stretching blades with each blade of each pair having a side edge adapted to be located against the inner surface of a cuff at the normally pressed side edge thereof and an end edge adapted to be located against the inner surface of the cuff against the normally pressed bottom edge thereof, said end edges of each pair being substantially coplanar; pins positioned in each pair of blades; guide slots in each of said blades arranged to receive said pins to permit linear movement of each pair of blades laterally with respect to each other while substantially maintaining said coplanar arrangement; an activating member provided with a pair of oppositely inclined cam surfaces therein, one of said pins engaging one of said surfaces and the other pin engaging the other of said surfaces to thereby operatively engage said pairs to cause outward movement of the blades of each pair under the influence of gravity on said hanger and the trousers suspended thereon to continuously press said side edges of the blades against the side edges of the cuffs; and means attached to said member for suspending said hanger and trousers from a support.

5. A hanger for cuffed trousers and the like, comprising: two pairs of cuff stretching blades, with each blade of each pair having a side edge adapted to be located against the inner surface of a cuif at the normally pressed side edge thereof and an end edge adapted to be located against the inner surface of the cuff against the normally pressed bottom edge thereof, said end edges of each pair being substantially coplanar; guide means operatively engaging the blades of each pair permitting linear movement of each pair of blades laterally with respect to each other while substantially maintaining said coplanar arrangement; actuating means including a member which is pivoted about a fixed point and has a single curved cam thereon, operatively engaging said guide means to cause outward movement of the blades of each pair under the influence of gravity on said hanger and the trousers suspended thereon to continuously press said side edges of the blades against the side edges of the cuffs; and means operatively attached to said actuating means for suspending said hanger and trousers from a support.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,251,894 Mizer Aug. 5, 1941 2,393,263 Puzio Jan. 22, 1946 2,562,559 Lyman July 31, 1951 2,691,470 Weiler Oct. 12, 1954 2,739,744 Beierle Mar. 27, 1956 2,812,890 Beierle Nov. 12, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 507,680 Canada Nov. 30, 1954 

